Grinding and work handling apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for grinding and turning a workpiece such as a slab or billet comprising a carriage movable in a predetermined path alongside the workpiece. Mounted on the carriage are both a grinder for removing metal from a surface of the workpiece and a mechanism for turning the workpiece to present a different surface to the grinder. An operator&#39;&#39;s station is provided on the carriage between the grinder and the turnover mechanism.

United States Patent 1 Hopkins 1 GRINDING AND WORK HANDLING APPARATUS [76] Inventor: Richard G. Hopkins, 5160 Lake Dr.

Rt. No. l, Owosso, Mich. 48867 [22] Filed: Oct; 2, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 294,384

[52] U.S. Cl 51/34 D, 51/47, 51/985, 51/216 ND [51] Int. Cl B24b 7/02, B24b 41/02 [58] Field of Search 51/34 R, 34 C, 34 D, 34 E, 51/34 F, 34 G, 45, 47, 92 R, 92 ND, 98.5, 125.5, 216 ND, 216 H; 83/708, 709

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS I 2,019,398 10 1935 Desagnat 51/34 c x 3,245,176 4/1966 Muehling 51/47 x 60,855 1/1867 Bristow 83/708 X 1 Mar. 12, 1974 92,388 7/1869 Snyder 83/708 X 162,088 4/1875 Miles 83/709 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 627,110 9/1961 Canada 83/708 Primary Examiner-Donald G. Kelly Attorney, Agent, or FirmWhittemore, l-Iulbert & Belknap [5 7] ABSTRACT Apparatus for grinding and turning a workpiece such as a slab or billet comprising a carriage movable in a predetermined path alongside the workpiece. Mounted on the carriage are both a grinder for removing metal from a surface of the workpiece and a mechanism for turning the workpiece to present a different surface to the grinder. An operators station is provided on the carriage between the grinder and the turnover mechanism.

9 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PAIENTEB NAB I 2 I974 SHEET 1 [IF 3 PATENIEDumzmm 3L796l01l SHEET 2 OF 3 F'IG.Z I

SHEET 3 0F 3 GRINDING AND WORK HANDLING APPARATUS BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is known to provide a carriage mounted grinder for removing metal from a workpiece, and it is also known to provide turnover mechanism for rotating or turning the workpiece to present a different surface to be ground. However, to the best of my knowledge no one has ever designed a combination grinding and manipulating apparatus of the type herein described and illustrated, in which both the grinder and the turnover mechanism are mounted on and incorporated in a single moving carriage structure.

It is among the objects and special features of this invention to provide an improved apparatus having a grinder and a turnover mechanism incorporated in a single moving carriage, and preferably one in which an operators station is located between the grinder and turnover mechanism in a position providing the operator with a clear view of both the grinding and turnover operations. The turnover mechanism comprises a generally upright mast on which a carrier is mounted for up and down movement, a horizontal shaft mounted on the carrier, and endless chains trained over sprockets on the shaft and adapted to form a sling to support the workpiece and turn it over when orbited one way or the other upon rotation of the shaft. The turnover mechanism overhangs one edge of the carriage, and braces support the edge of the carriage when the turnover mechanism is being used.

Other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds especially when considered with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of apparatus embodying my invention.

FIG. 2 is a'side elevational view showing the turnover mechanism as viewed on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the turnover mechanism.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the carriage is generally designated and is supported on tracks 12 by wheels 14 for movement back and forth in a path alongside a workpiece W mounted on a support S. The workpiece W is here shown as being in the form ofa metal slab, but it might be a billet or have any other cross section. Mounted on the carriage 10 are a grinder 16, a turnover mechanism 18 and an operators station 20. The grinder 16 and turnover mechanism 18 are spaced from one another in the direction of carriage movement, and the operators station 20 is located between the grinder 16 and the turnover mechanism 18 in a position such that the operator may have a clear view of both the grinding and turnover operations. The carriage may be driven by any suitable source of power such as a reversible hydraulic motor M through a transmission diagrammatically shown at 19 by controls at the operators station.

The grinder 16 comprises an elongated boom 22, the rear end of which is rigidlysecured upon a mounting plate 24. The front end of plate 24 carries a yoke 26 which rotatably supports a grinding wheel 28 that projects beyond the front edge of the carriage to grind the top surface of the workpiece W on support S. The mounting plate 24 is supported upon a saddle. 30 for tilting movement about a horizontal shaft 32 which extends in the direction of carriage movement. The shaft 32 is supported on the saddle by blocks 34, and the plate 24 has trunnions 36 rotatably receiving the shaft. Accordingly, the boom 22 is capable of moving through an arc of several degrees above and below a substantially horizontal position, in order to permit lowering and raising the grinding wheel 28 into and out of grinding contact with the top surface of the workpiece.

The grinding wheel 28 may be driven by an electric motor M2 mounted on mounting plate 24 which drives pulley 29 through gear reducer 31. Drive belts 33 which extend over pulley 29 and over pulley 35 carried by grinding wheel shaft 37 transmits rotation to the grinding wheel.

The saddle 30 is supported for sliding movement at right angles to the direction of carriage movement. The saddle has sleeves 38 on its undersurface slidably receiving the elongated horizontal guide rods 40 to guide the transverse movement of the saddle. Guide rods 40 are secured upon the carriage 10 at right angles to the direction of carriage movement by the mounting blocks 42. Reciprocation of the saddle is effected by a pistoncylinder assembly 44, the cylinder 46 of which is secured upon the carriage by mounting blocks 48 and the rod 50 of which extends from the piston (not shown) within the cylinder and is connected at 52 to a rearward extension 54 of the saddle. Suitable controls at the operators station are provided to admit pressure fluid via lines 51 and 53 into either end of the cylinder 46 while exhausting the other end in order to move the saddle, and to lock pressure fluid in both ends to hold the saddle in a fixed position.

The boom 22 is adapted to be raised and lowered about the pivot shaft 32 by a piston-cylinder assembly 56, the head end of the cylinder 58 of which is pivoted at 60 to the saddle 30. The rod 59 extends from the piston (not shown) in cylinder 58 and is pivoted at 62 to the rear end of the boom. Suitable controls are provided at the operators station to admit pressure fluid via lines 63 and 65 to either end of the cylinder 58 while exhausting the opposite end to raise or lower the grinding wheel 28 with respect to the workpiece, and to lock pressure fluid in both ends to hold the grinding wheel in a fixed position.

It will be apparent from the foregoing, that by operation of the cylinder 58 to lower the grinding wheel into contact with the workpiece, and by moving the carriage 10 back and forth along tracks 12, the grinding wheel when rotated will grind a path along the length of the workpiece and remove metal therefrom. By appropriate operation of the cylinder 44 after the grinding wheel has traversed the length of the workpiece, the saddle 30 may be indexed so that the grinding wheel will abrade a fresh path on the next pass.

The turnover mechanism 18 comprisesa generally upright mast composed of a pair of elongated parallel channels 82 which are spaced apart and open toward one another. They are connected at the top by a plate 84 and at the bottom by a plate 86. This mast is mounted at the front edge of the carriage by a pivotal are rigidly secured to the channels 82 of the mast 80,

whereby the mast is supported for pivotal movement through several degrees to either side of the generally upright position shown in FIG. 2. The mast is moved to and held in adjusted position with respect to the pivot shaft 92 by piston-cylinder assemblies 96 each including a cylinder 98 the head end of which is pivoted as at 100 to a support structure 102 mounted upon the carriage. Rods 104 extend from the pistons (not shown) within cylinders 98 and are pivoted to the channels 82 as indicated at 106. Suitable controls are provided at the operators station to admit pressure fluid via lines 108 and 110 to either end of cylinders 98 while exhausting the opposite ends of the cylinders to swing the mast 80 forwardly or rearwardly or to lock pressure fluid in both ends to hold the mast in a fixed position. The turnover mechanism also includes a carrier 112 which is movable lengthwise of the mast, being guided for such movement by rollers 114 engaged in the channels 82. The carrier 112 is raised and lowered by operation of a piston-cylinder assembly 1 16, the cylinder 118 of which is mounted on the top plate 84 of the mast. The piston rod 120 extends downwardly through the top plate 84 from the piston (not shown) within the cylinder and has a pair of pulleys 122 mounted for rotation on the lower end. Cables 124 are reeved over the pulleys 122 being connected at one end to the carrier as shown at 126 and at their opposite ends to the mast channels 82 by anchors 128. Reciprocation of the piston within the cylinder 118 will obviously result in raising and lowering of the carrier 112 lengthwise of the mast 80. Suitable controls are provided at the operators station 20 to admit fluid pressure via lines 130 and 132 to either end of the cylinder ll8 while exhausting the opposite end to raise or lower the carrier 112 or to lock pressure fluid in both ends to hold the carrier in a fixed position. v

The carrier has a mounting fixture 134 for supporting the turnover mechanism per se, such mounting fixture being rigidly secured to the carrier and including the forwardly projecting laterally spaced brackets 136 joined by the elongated tubular connecting members 138 which tie the brackets 136 together in a rigid unit. A horizontal shaft 140 is rotatably supported by the brackets 136 and extends in the direction of carriage movement. Sprockets 142 are secured to opposite ends of the shaft 140 and endless flexible linear members 144 are reeved over and suspended from the sprockets. Each linear member 144 comprises a length of chain the ends of which are releasably connected together by a hook 145 to provide a closed loop. The ends of the chains can be disconnected by releasing hooks 145 so that the chains can be passed under the workpiece W as in FIG. 2, and the ends re-connected to form chain slings to support the workpiece when the carrier 112 is elevated. Shaft 140 is rotated in either direction by means such as a reversible hydraulic or electric motor M3 through pulleys 145 and 146 on the motor output shaft and on shaft 140 respectively and a belt 147 passed over the pulleys. Suitable controls for the motor M3 are provided at the operators station.

The carrier 112, and particularly the mounting fixture 134 and the chain supporting shaft 140 overhang the forward edge of the carriage when the turnoveris being used as in FIG. 2. Means may be provided to counterbalance the tipping moment on the carriage during use of the turnover mechanism which may comprise the braces 150. Such braces 150 are mounted on the carriage 10 adjacent to and on either side of the mast 'of the turnover mechanism. Each brace comprises a piston-cylinder assembly 152 having a vertical cylinder 154 rigidly mounted on the carriage 10. The rod 156 extends downward through the carriage from the piston (not shown) within the cylinder and has a support pad 158 pivoted on the lower end. The pad 158 as shown comprises a bottom foot portion 160 having upstanding ears 162 on opposite sides of and pivoted to the rod 156 by a pin 164. These pads 160 are retracted when not in use to brace the edge of the carriage during turnover of the workpiece, but are extended downwardly into ground engagement when needed for bracing. Suitable controls are provided at the operators station to admit pressure fluid via lines 166 and 168 to either end of the cylinders 154 while exhausting the opposite ends to raise or lower the support pads 158.

Instead of braces, counterbalancing can be accomplished by other means such, for example, as by a wider track for the carriage 10 or by a different positioning of wheels 14. The braces 1150, however, have been found to be a very effective means of accomplishing the desired result.

To turn the workpiece, the carriage 10 is moved to the right in FIG. 1 to bring the turnover mechanism 18 opposite the workpiece support S. Cylinder assemblies 152 are operated to lower the pads 158 into engagement with the ground to brace the front edge of the carriage. The mast may if desired be swung forwardly or rearwardly to properly locate the turnover mechanism with respect to the workpiece. Cylinder assembly 116 is operated to lower the carrier 112 enough so that the chains 144 can be draped under the opposite ends of the workpiece as in FIG. 2. The chain endswill usually be unhooked so that they may be conveniently passed under the workpiece, and then reconnected. Then the cylinder assembly 116 is reversed to raise the carrier 112 sufficiently to elevate the workpiece clear of support S. The motor M3 is operated to rotate shaft in either direction and orbit the chains 144 sufficiently to turn the workpiece W through slightly more than 90 so that it will flop over on its opposite side. The cylinder assembly 116 is again reversed to lower the carrier 112 and redeposit the workpiece W on the support S but with its opposite surface up. The chains are re moved from the workpiece and'support pads 158 are retracted to the FIG. 3 position before the carriage 10 is returned to the FIG. 1 position for grinding. Preferably, the hooks are near the sprockets 142 at the beginning of a turnover, so that they do not have to pass over the sprockets. As seen in FIG. 2, the chain can orbit nearly 360 counterclockwise without passing over the sprocket. I

- The turnover mechanism may be used to turn billets of square or other cross section. A square billet could be turned increments of 90 to grind each of the four surfaces. If the slab happens to be so wide that it cannot be readily rotated without interference with the support S, the carriage after the slab is lifted by the chains 144, may be moved away from the support.

I claim:

l. Grinding and manipulating apparatus comprising a carriage movable along a predetermined path, a grinder, means mounting said grinder on said carriage, said grinder having a grinding wheel for removing metal from a surface of a workpiece supported adjacent said path, tumover' mechanism for turning the workpiece to present a different surface thereof to said grinding wheel, and means mounting said turnover mechanism on said carriage.

2. The apparatus defined in claim I, wherein said turnover mechanism overhangs said carriage along one edge thereof, a support for said carriage, and means mounting said support on said carriage adjacent said one edge thereof to support the same during operation of said turnover mechanism.

3, The apparatus defined in claim 2, wherein said mounting means for said support comprises a pistoncylinder assembly for moving said support to and from an operative ground-engagingposition.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein said turnover mechanism comprises a generally upright mast, a carrier mounted on said mast for up and down movement along the length thereof, power means for moving said carrier along said mast, a generally horizontal shaft mounted on said carrier, means for rotating said shaft, flexible linear members depending from said shaft and operable to turn a workpiece upon rotation of said shaft, said mounting means for said turnover mechanism comprising means pivotally supporting the lower end portion of said mast for movement about a horizontal axis, and power means for adjusting the position of said mast about said axis.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 4, wherein said shaft has sprockets spaced along the length thereof, and said flexible linear members are endless chains trained over said sprockets.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 1, including an operators station mounted on said carriage.

7. The apparatus defined in claim 6, wherein said grinder and said turnover mechanism are mounted on said carriage in spaced apart relation in the direction of carriage movement, and said operators station is positioned between said grinder and said turnover mechanism.

8. The apparatus defined in claim 4, wherein the shaft of said turnover mechanism overhangs said carriage along one edge thereof, support pads for said carriage, and means mounting said support pads on said carriage adjacent said one edge thereof selectively in an operative position supporting the same during operation of said turnover mechanism and in a retracted position during movement of said carriage.

9. The apparatus defined in claim 8, wherein said mounting means for said pads comprises pistoncylinder assemblies to lower said pads to their operative positions for ground engagement and to raise said pads to their retracted positions.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3'796'Oll Dated March l2, 1974 Inventor; RICHARD G. HOPKINS It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the heading of the patent, after the identification of theinventor, the name and address of the Assignee,

' MWA COMPANY, OWOSSO, MICHIGAN,have been inserted.

Signed and sealed this 16th day of July 1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

MCCOY M. GIBSON, JR. C. MARSHALL DANN' Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. Grinding and manipulating apparatus comprising a carriage movable along a predetermined path, a grinder, means mounting said grinder on said carriage, said grinder having a grinding wheel for removing metal from a surface of a workpiece supported adjacent said path, turnover mechanism for turning the workpiece to present a different surface thereof to said grinding wheel, and means mounting said turnover mechanism on said carriage.
 2. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein said turnover mechanism overhangs said carriage along one edge thereof, a support for said carriage, and means mounting said support on said carriage adjacent said one edge thereof to support the same during operation of said turnover mechanism.
 3. The apparatus defined in claim 2, wherein said mounting means for said support comprises a piston-cylinder assembly for moving said support to and from an operative ground-engaging position.
 4. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein said turnover mechanism comprises a generally upright mast, a carrier mounted on said mast for up and down movement along the length thereof, power means for moving said carrier along said mast, a generally horizontal shaft mounted on said carrier, means for rotating said shaft, flexible linear members depending from said shaft and operable to turn a workpiece upon rotation of said shaft, said mounting means for said turnover mechanism comprising means pivotally supporting the lower end portion of said mast for movement about a horizontal axis, and power means for adjusting the position of said mast about said axis.
 5. The apparatus defined in claim 4, wherein said shaft has sprockets spaced along the length thereof, and said flexible linear members are endless chains trained over said sprockets.
 6. The apparatus defined in claim 1, including an operator''s station mounted on said carriage.
 7. The apparatus defined in claim 6, wherein said grinder and said turnover mechanism are mounted on said carriage in spaced apart relation in the direction of carriage movement, and said operator''s station is positioned between said grinder and said turnover mechanism.
 8. The apparatus defined in claim 4, wherein the shaft of said turnover mechanism overhangs said carriage along one edge thereof, support pads for said carriage, and means mounting said support pads on said carriage adjacent said one edge thereof selectively in an operative position supporting the same during operation of said turnover mechanism and in a retracted position during movement of said carriage.
 9. The apparatus defined in claim 8, wherein said mounting means for said pads comprises piston-cylinder assemblies to lower said pads to their operative positions for ground engagement and to raise said pads to their retracted positions. 